Months
by Courvoisier
Summary: After everything that happened, they allowed him back in and gave him three months to prove himself. Draco didn't think that his life could have taken such a tragic turn within three short months. / Post war; Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

Draco didn't know what to think about this whole situation. Actually, that was a lie. He certainly wasn't happy about it. Anger radiated off of him and was evidently read through his rigid posture, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared down at the damp ground beneath his feet. A particularly cold gust of wind rattled the trees as they made his way down the road to where they were going to apparate. His mother had been babbling on for the last ten minutes about how he should have been grateful for what she was trying to do for him and his future. Her voice was only a murmur in the background now, completely tuned out of anything that she was actually saying. Beneath the cold surface, his pride was beginning to ache at the thought. How could she think that he could even return to Hogwarts after everything? He certainly didn't want too, not after his mother practically begged McGonagall to let him in. He had heard enough of their conversation to know that he wasn't wanted, and why would he go somewhere where he wasn't wanted.

"She's being very generous to offer you a chance to let you finish your education, Draco. You really should try and show more appreciation when we get there, please?"

He looked over at her and raised his brow wordlessly. "Why should I, mother? I don't want to go back. I have no reason to go back there, you know they don't want me."

"Just make an effort and behave, please," she said, before grabbing his arm and apparating to a spot just a ways from Hogwarts. Once again he fell beside her step, remaining completely silent the whole walk there.

"I'm already behind; they've been in school for like a month and a half. There's no point in me going back."

His mother seemed to have enough of his complaints and protests and just continued to walk silently, staring straight ahead at the castle that was coming in to view. His stomach turned when he saw that they were approaching the front gates, memories lingering in the back of his mind. This place did not bring back happy memories, and everything that had happened last year was still fresh in his mind. The old castle held no tales of the damage that had previously been hit on it. The war had been a gruesome battle that he had tried to forget over and over again but never could. It was something that couldn't be erased, and if he was better with spells he would take his wand to his temple and obliviate the last two years out of his mind. It would be kinder that way, not to remember and have it haunt him under his lashes every night when he tried to fall asleep. It had become something little in his life, sleep- he clung to the small hours he managed to get.

His heart beat a bit faster in his chest when they stood at the entrance. The gates were open leading to the path up the castle. He prayed that no one was outside and that he wouldn't be seen. It wasn't like he'd be opened with open arms, there would probably be a couple hexes flying in his direction. Maybe if he got lucky enough one of them would hit him and he wouldn't have to go in. the thought made him smile, but it quickly faded as they made their way through the gates and up to the doors that were open with professor McGonagall stood there as if she had been waiting for hours for their arrival.

"Mrs. Malfoy," she said curtly. Draco could feel her look him over, her gaze lingering on him for a long moment before she said, "Mr. Malfoy."

Looking up from the ground, he met her eyes and didn't look away until she did first.

"Very well, follow me to my office."

Keeping his head down, he followed her with his mother. His heart was hammering faster now, the sound echoing in his ears. He was surprised that no one could hear it as it felt like it was practically pounding against his chest. His hands were not clenched in to fists in his trousers pockets, his nails digging in to his palms as they tagged along and up in to the headmasters office that had once belonged to Dumbledore. McGonagall sat down at her desk, looking up at them she gestured for them to sit down. It was one of the last things he wanted to do was sit down. Feeling a bit trapped, he reluctantly sunk down in to the chair anyways. Drumming his fingers nervously against the overstuffed arm rest, he refused to meet her gaze and continued to look around the room.

"Your mother has spoken to me, Mr Malfoy, you are aware of this I'm assuming. She would like for me to give you the chance to return to the school. Do you understand how much of a risk this is? She has said that I am to forgive everything that happened in the past, which I am willing to do if you can prove to me that you have changed from your… earlier ways."

Draco wanted to sink in to the chair and through the floor right now more than ever. His mother spoke before he even had a chance to think.

"I can guarantee to you that neither Draco nor I wanted that. Draco was just a boy, he had no say. It was what Lucius wanted for him; he never had a chance to go around it. He never wanted any of it, he was terrified," Narcissa explained, sitting up straighter in her chair and staring at McGonagall desperately. "All I want for him is a chance to finish and learn all he can so that maybe he can go on like this had never happened to our family, a chance for him to get out in the wizarding world after he's done school and not have to hide away because of what happened before." Her tone was growing more and more pleading, practically begging McGonagall to understand where she was coming from.

"I know, Mrs Malfoy," she said. Her eyes still on Draco, "you have told me all of this already when we first met. I'd like to hear what your son's thoughts are on this whole matter."

Finally meeting her gaze, Draco shrugged his shoulders and leaned in to the chair. "I don't see the point in me coming back. No one wants me here obviously, and the school year is already started. I'm already behind in classes, and it isn't like it's something I can just walk in on. NEWT level classes aren't exactly a cup of tea, and it's not like I've done fantastically before."

"What I'm asking you, Mr Malfoy is that if you were extended an invitation to return to Hogwarts, would you accept it?"

He could practically feel his mother's gaze cutting him in to him, and he knew that he couldn't say no. Nodding his head, "I guess."

McGonagall seemed to take his answer. "Very well. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt that what your mother tells me is true, but I am going to have to take some precautions. I am allowing you to attend Hogwarts for three months. At the end of three months, we will see where you stand. If you are true to what I have been told and have caused no problems you may continue on and complete your schooling. If you are to cause any trouble beforehand I will have you expelled and out of here before you can even protest. Do you understand me?"

Once again, Draco nodded his head in reply. He found no words, what did he think he was going to do? Walk around and kill all the mudbloods in sight? The more he let himself think about it, she had a reasonable worry there considering the events that had happened a year ago. "I'll give you no trouble," he told her flatly.

"Good. You will be closely monitored by staff and a few select students, Mr Malfoy. As you mentioned earlier you are behind in classes considering they have been in session for approximately a month now. I will find a student to help you catch up and keep you caught up in your classes." McGonagall suddenly looked quite tired, looking over at Narcissa and her son once more, she said: "Don't make me regret my decision. I will give you two days to pack your things and buy what is necessary for your classes. The gates will be open for you once more and I will meet you at the entrance Thursday at three o'clock. By then I will have all your accommodations sorted."

She stood up, watching the two of them.

"Thank you, thank you so much. Draco and I are eternally grateful for your second chance," Narcissa murmured, standing up and smiling at her. "We will be here at three o'clock exactly."

Draco also stood up, saying nothing and avoided her gaze as the two of them left their office. This wasn't going to be good, he was already thinking of the dreadful scenarios that ran through his head. This was going to be a long three months that was for sure.

_**AN: So… hi. This is my first Dramione story that I'm starting and have great hopes of finishing (well first actual story, one shots don't count). I'm a bit nervous to be posting this to be honest considering some of the amazing authors on here put me to shame. But I hope you guys enjoy this, I really like writing it so far! **_


	2. Chapter 2

"This is complete bullocks, Harry! You defeated You Know Who for crying out loud, I don't understand why you agreed to come back. It wasn't like you couldn't say no. They can't force you to come back. A year ago we were trying to destroy horcruxes. How exactly are we back at Hogwarts writing essays?" Ron whined, crouched over one of the tables in the Gryffindor common room. The early morning sunlight stretched through the windows, bathing most of the room in a warm light. Grimacing to himself, he continued to scribble frantically across the parchment in attempt to finish his Potions essay that was due in just a couple of hours. Harry was in a similar position, leaning back in one of the overstuffed red chairs staring at his essay like if he looked at it long enough it would write itself. Occasionally he'd mumble a couple of words then scribble them down. At Ron's words, he looked up and shook his head.

"Just made sense at the time, mate." He didn't need to say much more as he leaned over to the table and flipped through textbook.

Hermione was curled up near them in another chair facing the fireplace. She was occupying the free period they had by flipping through one of her textbooks for Ancient Runes. She frowned over in the boys' direction, it was almost impossible for her to concentrate on what she was trying to read with the two of them bickering back and forth and the loud screeches of them scraping their quills aggressively across the parchment. She had just realized that she had been trying to read the same page over twice. Her mind just wouldn't be still today, for some reason she had woken up with an easy feeling lingering in the pit of her stomach that didn't seem to go away. She had written it off as just plain stress, after all she was already had a heavy workload pressing down on her shoulders with all the NEWT level classes they were taking. Unlike Harry and Ron she wasn't leaving things to last minute, she had finished that essay the day it had been assigned a week ago. Most of the essay had actually been completed in class for her, it had been a dreary day in the dungeons when Slughorn had given them the rest of the quarter to work on it. She had actually worked on it, where they took bets on how long it would take for one of the girls in their grade to ask Seamus out.

As much as they begged her to help, Hermione simply refused.

She found herself finally able to focus a bit on her book, finishing up the page that she had been struggling to get through when Ron began to talk to her.

"Hey, 'Mione. Could you tell me what the potion does again? I just need to be able to get a couple more inches and I'm writing as big as I can-"

"- No, Ronald- I can't," she cut him off and huffed in his direction, looking up from her book and closing it. "You should know by know what the potion does! If you would have taken notes and paid attention in class, we went over it for two whole classes! If you had any questions you should have asked before, not hours before the essay was due."

Ron stared at his girlfriend in a mixture of shock and disbelief, opening his mouth he went to argue back but Harry beat him to speaking before he could.

"Hermione's right, we shouldn't have put this off last minute. Slughorn probably will let us hand it in late anyways. We need to get going to Transfigurations; McGonagall definitely won't be impressed with us if we walk in late."

Harry stood up and eyed the mess him and Ron had made over the table. Ink was splattered all over the dark wood, along with scattered bits of parchment and notes. Waving his wand and mumbling a spell under his breath, he managed to get it tidied up enough to pack everything away so they wouldn't be late for class.

"Did you manage to finish?" Ron asked. He glanced over at his best friend with a bit of shock on his face as he shoved everything in to his bag. Harry just shook his head in his direction, grabbing his textbooks and making his way out of the common room with his best friends falling in step a couple feet behind him.

A cold chill ran down her spine as she made her way down the hallway, Hermione didn't know why the restless uneasy feeling settled back in her stomach. Everything was fine today; it was actually a beautiful day. Swallowing hard to herself, she tried not to focus on it and smiled over lightly at Ron when he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders.

"You okay?" He said, looking down at her. "You seem uneasy about something."

Nodding her head, "I'm fine. Just a bit stressed out already I guess."

"You need to stop working yourself so hard," he said to her, retracting his arm as they made their way in to the classroom with just minutes to spare. They took their usual seats off to the side of the class, joining in at the loud chatter that echoed across the stone walls until McGonagall walked in and the chatter died down as quick as it had started.

The class had gone by quite quickly, or for Hermione at least. They had spent a lot of time talking about Animagus and she had taken a lot of notes on the subject, trying to absorb as much as she could. Apparently she had been the only one that had found the lesson quite interesting (not that she was surprised by this at all) by the constant complaints that Ron and Harry murmured back and forth at each other, not speaking any louder in fear that McGonagall would hear them. Shaking her head at her best friends, she found it funny that how so much had happened. They had been ripped apart in so many ways- they practically watched the castle light on fire one night. Just months ago she would have never dreamed of being back here to complete her last year, the thought seemed almost ridiculous. And here they were, complaining about classes and homework like nothing had happened. The only true difference was a certain lightness in the air knowing that safety had returned to the world with Voldemort's defeat. Gathering up everything she had brought, she was about to make her way out with Harry and Ron professor McGonagall called her over to her desk.

She made her way over there with Harry and Ron hovering behind her (apparently they felt the need to go over and see what she wanted).

"Last time I checked, you weren't Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley. I'd like to speak with her alone."

The two looked over at Hermione and at each other before silently exiting. Frowning worriedly, Hermione looked over at McGonagall.

"Pull a seat over, Miss Granger. Stop looking so worried."

Smiling in her direction meekly, she pulled up a chair and sat cross legged. Studying her teacher, she waited for her to continue talking. She watched her move some things around on her desk before meeting Hermione's gaze with a certain softness that she didn't quite understand. "I have a bit of an odd request, Miss Granger. You are in no way obligated to say yes because it's going to be a bit much. I know you're very busy with your studies and… well, this might be something you're not comfortable agreeing too."

Frowning, Hermione felt nerves swim around in her stomach at her words. What was going on?

"I have a student coming back to school after being away… he's in the same year as Potter, Weasley and yourself. He's going to need some help catching up on his classes and just staying focused. I've allowed him three months to prove that he's changed and willing to continue with his education. Now I know this is asking a lot with your history with this student-"

"- Professor, forgive me for interrupting. But who exactly is this student?" Hermione asked tentatively. Her pulse quickening and her posture tensed, she had a feeling that she already knew the answer and it was one she wasn't going to like.

"Draco Malfoy."

Her assumptions and fears were just confirmed right then and there. Slouching back in her chair, she stared at her in a mixture of disbelief and shock. How did she even let him back in? Why would anyone in their right mind let Malfoy back in to the school after the war. He had proven that he had never been on their side- he was a death eater for crying out loud! He had the mark and had taken part in the war. They sat there in silence, Hermione's thoughts running wild in her mind. "How could you let him back in, professor? He has no good intentions! He's a death eater, he's one of them. People like him don't change!"

"I've spoken to Mr Malfoy and his mother, Miss Granger. I believe that what they're telling me is true, and I am giving them a chance to prove that. You are not obligated to say yes, I understand if you don't agree with this. It seems a bit risky, considering everything, I know, but Mr Malfoy perhaps isn't quite what you think he is. I just feel that you would be the best student to handle this, academic wise but also be mature enough."

"But, professor- he's a death eater! He tried to kill Dumbledore. I just… don't think it would be a safe idea for any of us letting him in. It just seems so risky."

It was something that made her feel sick to her stomach, just the mere thought of letting Draco in. Harry said he wouldn't have gone through with killing Dumbledore, that he had been lowering his wand. But she saw him that night of the war, he wasn't fighting with them. He walked away from them and to their side, it was enough proof right there that he was no good. Even if it meant standing up against his family and parents beliefs, he had the option to do the right thing.

"Mr Malfoy has made some poor choices, but truly hasn't had the chance to make his own decisions. I understand this is something you're not willing to do. I will find another student that will help him."

For some reason Hermione felt like there was something pressing down on her, the weight of disappointment seemed to be the heaviest. Looking over at McGonagall, though she didn't voice it, she felt like she was letting her down by not giving it a chance. A part of her was torn, she did not want to be anywhere near Draco Malfoy and had thought she had seen the last of him. Licking her lips, she looked back up at McGonagall; half of her was screaming not to go through with what she was doing. "I… I'll give it a chance, professor."

She mentally smacked herself and regretted the words the moments they left her lips. "But, on the terms that we all have a meeting with him before. I'd like it if Harry and Ron could also be there, because they're not going to be very happy about it either." Furrowing her brow, she could just imagine their reactions when she told them. Ron's possible reactions frightened her more than Harry's.

"I can see what I can do, Miss Granger. Thank you for agreeing to try, I really do appreciate it."

"You're welcome, professor. I really hope that you're right about this."

"Me too, Miss Granger."

Hermione stood up, dragging the chair back to her desk. Looking over her shoulder before she left, she said: "Professor?"

"Yes?"

"When does he come back?"

"Tomorrow."

Her stomach dropped a bit, nodding her head she tried not to walk quite quickly out of her room. Staring down at the ground as she rushed off toward the common room before Potion's started, she felt her stomach turn just at the thought of what she had gotten herself in too. She should have known this morning with the ominous feeling in the air that this day wasn't going to be good. Honestly, she shouldn't have agreed to this. That was probably one of the worst decisions she had made yet. It wouldn't be good.

This was leading to be a complete train wreck.

_**AN: And here is chapter two C: Thank you all for your helpful feedback on the last chapter, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to write reviews and favourite/alert the story!**_


	3. Chapter 3

The moment she stepped out of the classroom, Harry and Ron were right at the back of her heels with a thousand questions about what she had wanted and what happened. The thought of what she had agreed too still made her stomach turn. Draco Malfoy was vile, and he hated her- why did she agree to try and help him? He wouldn't want help from a mudblood, and surely McGonagall would have assumed that he'd want to get nowhere near her. Shaking her head at the thought, she glanced around at the other students in the crowded hallway and mumbled to Harry and Ron that she would tell them everything later, not wanting this conversation to be overheard. The two weren't pleased by this answer, frowning and complaining how they were going to go all potions class dying to know what McGonagall and she had spoken about.

"Honestly, I can promise you it's nothing exciting," she finally said as they made their way down through the dungeons, already risking being late for potions. It was true, it wasn't anything exciting. She couldn't deny the fact that it was big news and probably going to be a big deal to them, but she got nothing close to excitement from the situation. Making their way to the usual table off to the side, she sat down and found herself immediately getting lost in thought about all the dreadful things that could happen with her helping out Malfoy. Pressing her face in to her hands, she sighed to herself and barely heard Slughorn ask them to bring essays to the front and open the next chapter in their textbooks.

Potions completely dragged by, she just couldn't focus. No matter how hard she tried to stop herself, her mind just set back on the conversation her and McGonagall had earlier. Her words replaying over and over again like a record stuck on repeat, something that she just couldn't get over. She had finally just given up on trying to pay attention, letting her mind wander and prayed that she didn't have anyone ask her a question. She snapped out of it when Harry reached over, shaking her arm lightly. Looking around with an almost dazed expression, she sighed in relief when the realization numbed her that class was over. Making her way out with Harry and Ron, she clutched her books tightly to her chest and stared down at the floor while they made their way back to the common room.

"Are you going to tell us yet what happened, Hermione?" Ron asked, a bit of worry set in to his tone. "You're really distracted; I don't think I saw you take a single note all class. You feeling ill or something?"

'Yes,' she thought, but she just shook her head. "I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Does any of that have to do with what McGonagall wanted to talk to you about?" Harry piped up finally, looking over at her.

Not wanting to lie to them about it, Hermione nodded her head. "A bit. I can't tell you guys what it was right now, we need to go somewhere private where we can't be overheard." Dropping her tone to a quiet murmur, she watched as they nodded and hurried up to the common room.

The three made their up the stairs. Loud voices echoed through the common room, bouncing off of the walls. Excited chattering of things that had happened in classes, the fact that Halloween was approaching and they couldn't wait to see what decorations would be up for the feast.

"Room of Requirement, we can't get overheard there. Let's go put our stuff away," Harry said, whispering into her ear before the two of them walked up in to the boy's dorm, scurrying up the stair she put everything in the old trunk. The hinges squeaked at the sudden force she opened it with, making sure she didn't break anything she closed it and made her way back down. She wasn't all that surprised when she saw Harry and Ron standing there, watching her quite impatiently wanting to know exactly what the meeting had been about.

Sitting down on the floor of the Room of Requirement, Hermione shifted and smoothed her skirt. Looking over at Ron and Harry who stared at her in anticipation, she took in a deep breath and began to explain to them what had happened. For a moment she didn't even know how to say it.

"McGonagall is letting Malfoy come back."

"_What?"_ They exclaimed in unison, gawking at her.

"I know. I said the same thing. She told me she's letting him back in for three months. His mom gave some sob story to her that he's changed and one of it was his idea and that he had no choices apparently. He has three months to prove himself, and if he dares set a toe out of line he's gone."

"That's absurd!" Ron cried. "That's three months for him to come up with some horrible plan."

"What exactly did she say to convince McGonagall to let him back in?" Harry asked. Running his fingers through his messy black hair out of habit, green eyes searched Hermione's face as if she could give him the answer.

"I wish I knew," she replied. "It had to be pretty convincing though."

"Maybe she's under the imperius!" Ron exclaimed suddenly.

"No, Ronald. I highly doubt that," Hermione said, looking up at him than back up at Harry. "I don't know why she let him in. I really don't, it must have been a very convincing argument. She wants me to help him catch up in school; I don't think it's going to be a very good idea." Speaking faster by the end, she felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach when she told them what she had agreed too.

"Wait- she wants _you_ to help him?" Ron asked. He stared at her like she had just grown three heads.

"Yeah, she believes I'd be the most mature about it and all that. It can't be that bad-"

"- Are you out of your bloody mind?"

Falling silent, she watched Ron and Harry nervously.

"I can't believe you didn't mention this earlier, Hermione! You said it was nothing exciting," Ron spluttered at her. 

"In my standards I don't really find trying to help Malfoy catch up in school very exciting, and I couldn't tell you all this with hundreds of people lurking around either, I don't think it's something she wants going around and be overheard."

"Because people are going to think she's off her bloody rocker, Hermione. I already do, this is blood insane. You aren't going to help him, go tell her no."

"Ron, I did originally tell her no but you should have seen the look on her face. I told her I'd give it a go, if he's going to be rotten I won't do it. Like I said, she's giving him three months to prove that he's not what he used to be," she explained to him quietly, reaching over she put a hand on his arm in an attempt of a comforting gesture. He stared at her in complete bewilderment. Opening his mouth to speak, he closed it before any words came out. She hadn't wanted to upset him. She could practically feel the disapproval and frustration rushing off of him in waves.

Ron looked like he wanted to shake her right now, but he just sat there with his jaw clenched tightly together. Looking down from his gaze, she looked over at Harry who just sat there, watching them without saying anything.

If this was going to cause more problems than good, Hermione wasn't going to do it. Draco Malfoy was not worth fighting with her best friend and boyfriend.

"He comes tomorrow," she said quietly. Her gaze remained fixed on Harry, "we're going to have a meeting about it, with him and McGonagall there. I guess we'll find out pretty fast how it's going to unfold from that. I... I'll understand if you guys don't want to come, but I'd really-"

"You think we're going to leave you alone with the ferret? Absolutely not, of course Harry and I are coming, right mate?"

Harry nodded his head, "of course we'll come too. I'm quite curious about this whole situation."

Hermione smiled gratefully at the. They had taken the whole thing better than she had expected. Especially Ron, whom she had thought would have been screaming about it. He seemed like he wanted to though, standing there looking like he'd punch the next person who said something too.

"It's going to be fine, Ronald," she said to him, forcing a smile in his direction.

She tried to sound as convincing as she could. It was hard to be convincing when she wasn't sure herself.

_**AN: Here's chapter three. It's shorter than I intended, I ended up cutting it in half. A bit of a filler- sorry about that, and for the wait! I promise things will get moving in the next chapter. Once again a thank you to everyone who has reviewed/alerted this story! I appreciate it.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Never in her life had Hermione ever dreaded a morning as much as she dreaded this one. She had laid in bed for a long while, running all the possibilities of how today could go through her mind. Pressing her face in to her pillow, she groaned to herself and tried to ignore the sunlight that filtered in through the curtains. The light made it impossible for her to go back to sleep, and judging by the noise downstairs it was time for her to get up anyways. Out of all the things she had to do today, seeing Draco Malfoy was not something she particularly wanted to endure.

By the time she had managed to drag herself downstairs, Ron and Harry were sitting in the common room waiting for her. With a simple greeting the three were off on their way to the Great Hall without much conversation flowing between the three of them. They all had the same feeling in the pit of their stomach, the dread and anticipation that was running much too high. Hermione felt it the most, anxiety bundled up deep inside of her. As much as she tried not to show it, she was pretty sure Harry and Ron could tell right off the bat how she felt. Eating wasn't going to be much of an option, she wasn't hungry and just the thought of food or Malfoy caused her stomach to turn.

"When exactly are we supposed to meeting McGonagall?" Harry asked, looking up at the front where all the staff were seated.

Hermione realized that she hadn't gotten a time. "I don't know," she replied with a frown. "She didn't tell me. I guess we'll find out when we go to Transfigurations today."

"We have Transfigurations today?" Ron asked with a grimace.

"Double block this afternoon with the Ravenclaws."

Judging by his groan, he had forgotten and hadn't finished his homework.

The day had dragged by and once again Hermione found herself not being able to focus on what she was supposed to be doing in class. Her notes were sparse, and she didn't want the added stress of getting confused to be added on to her plate. She tried to read, but found her mind wandering and constantly having to go back and reread the page. This had never been an issue for her, and it was driving her insane. By the time Transfigurations had come around she was honestly contemplating saying she was ill, the anticipation and anxiety was starting to really get to her.

Putting her bag down before class started, she noticed McGonagall was already seated at her desk. Mumbling to Harry and Ron that she'd be right back, she made her way up to the front of the class and asked cautiously, "Um, professor. May I ask you a question regarding our conversation yesterday?" Her voice was quiet, not wanting anyone to overhear.

"Meet me at the door of my office after class, Miss Granger. Potter and Weasley may come with you if they so desire."

She wondered how she knew exactly what she was going to ask. Hermione nodded her head and murmured a quick thank you before sitting down between Ron and Harry.

"Meet at her office after class," she said to them under her breath as she pulled out her quill.

She managed to get a lot more work done than what she had in her previous classes (still hardly enough in her opinion) during her double blocks. When she realized the time, her stomach turned and she felt her pulse quicken. As the class began to leave, the trio broke away from their classmates and turned down the hallway to where the entrance to the headmistress' office was. Minutes later Professor McGonagall was behind them, saying the password and leading them in.

Before they even had a chance to sit down, Ron looked around the office and asked, "Where is Malfoy? I thought he was coming today."

"Please, have a seat, Mr Weasley. Mr Malfoy will be arriving shortly; I wanted to have a word with the three of you before he came."

Nodding his head, Ron sat down in one of the chairs she had conjured for them.

"I know the three of you are weary of the decision I've made with letting him come back. But I have met with his mother and himself. His mother I have met with on more than one occasion and I am willing to let him have another chance."

"He tried to kill Dumbledore and was on the other side with the war, professor. How is that worthy of a second chance?" Ron said, his voice trembling in frustration.

"We are aware of this, Mr Weasley. But we are moving past the point; Mr Malfoy did not willingly make those choices. When really, those choices were made for him by his father and outside influences. When it came down to the war, he went with his family, which is expected."

Harry piped up before Ron could say anything. "As much as I don't like him, or the idea of him being here I agree with McGonagall that he deserves a second chance."

Silence fell, everyone just stared at Harry.

"Everyone deserves second chances, and if you believe his intentions are true professor, I trust that."

"Thank you, Mr Potter."

"And I'll still help him catch up," Hermione added quietly, "but if he pulls something I don't want to deal with him anymore."

McGonagall nodded, "if he does anything his opportunity to finish his education with be terminated and he will be expelled."

Ron just sat there in silence, not liking this idea at all.

"I don't like the idea of Hermione helping him out, professor. He was absolutely awful to her. I don't see how that is really going to change much. Could someone else deal with him?" Harry asked tentatively.

"I'll be fine, Harry. If it sets a toe out of line you know I won't put up with it."

McGonagall smiled at them and looked over at Ron, "your thoughts, Mr Weasley?"

"I don't like this at all. Nothing is going to change that, I don't agree with any of it."

"As I suspected," McGonagall said, "Mr Malfoy wil be arriving any moment now. Please excuse me while I meet him and his mother, I'd like it if the three of you would remain here." She gave them a look that told them they weren't go anywhere before walking out of her office with only the click of her shoes echoing as she left.

The reality sunk in on them, and they all just sat in silence. Draco Malfoy, a former death eater, was coming back.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you're actually making me do this, mother," Draco protested as they made their way up to the gates in front of Hogwarts. His luggage floating in midair beside him and he had his wand held loosely in his right hand as he made sure it didn't touch the ground. "Why can't I just stay at home with you and the house elf at the manor? I've said it a thousand times, no one wants me here and there's no point of me coming. You're going to get awfully lonely alone. It's not like the house elf is good company."<p>

"Draco," Narcissa snapped at her son. "Stop whining, I'm doing this for you to have a better chance of having a successful future."

He opened his mouth to retaliate that after everything that had happened the chance of him actually having a future in the wizarding world was slim to none. No matter what he said or did to show that he wasn't what they thought, his last name was always going to be known as a death eater, or the son of a death eater. Reaching up and running his fingers through his hair, he stood at the gates with his stomach turning. Refusing to let his discomfort show, he lowered his luggage to the ground to lean on.

"Where is McGonagall anyways, didn't she say she was going to let us in?" He drawled, "Maybe she had second thoughts and doesn't want me back." His tone was hopeful and his remark was ignored by his mother.

As if he had spoken too soon and jinxed it, she appeared in the distance with someone he didn't recognize beside her. She flicked her wand and the gates slowly creaked open.

"There you go, Draco. Owl me soon and let me know how it's going," Narcissa began, looking down at her son with a softer expression she continued on. "Please, Draco, just be good and cause no mischief. Keep a low profile, and whatever you do don't ruin this."

His mother was practically begging him to behave, Draco couldn't believe it. "Thank you for having so much faith in me, mother. It just warms my heart," he huffed, but then looked up at her. "I'll behave, there's no need to lose sleep over it. I'll write to you soon."

Levitating his luggage once more, he tried to stay as calm as he could when he walked toward McGonagall and just nodded his head. He secretly wished his mother had walked up with him. Draco couldn't bring himself to look over his shoulder to see if she was watching him go.

"Welcome back, Mr Malfoy. Professor Ward will be taking care of your luggage. I'd like to speak with you in my office."

Without much of a word, she turned on her heels and began to make her way back to the castle. For a moment he stood there feeling a bit panicked, he gawked up at the castle that he had once seen in flames and slowly being ripped apart. With a timid glance over his shoulder, he saw his mother still standing there (looking quite torn). She lifted a hand in a farewell gesture before taking a step back, lifting his own hand slowly he waved back before shoving his hands in his pockets and following her in to the castle without looking up.

He truly just wanted to turn around and run away.

Unlike last time, unfortunately for him there were people in the hallways. He could hear their hushed murmurs (is that Draco Malfoy? Why is he here?) half of him wanted to look up and snarl at them so they'd mind their own business. He didn't want to see their faces gawking at him like he was some animal held captive in an exhibit.

Most of all, he couldn't look at them and try to defend what had happened. Draco was not proud of himself (but it wasn't something that he'd ever utter to a single soul, he could hardly admit it to himself). It felt like a dreadfully long walk to her office, and the moment he stepped in and saw three faces staring at him, he couldn't help but to laugh at the damn luck he had.

Of course, out of all people that could be sitting there it had to be Harry fucking Potter, the weasel and the mudblood. Wasn't that just fantastic?

His earlier fear and conflicted emotion seemed to be eased away at how damn unlucky he felt right now. Straightening his shoulders and grinning as arrogantly as he could in their direction, he just raised a brow. "Well, I can't say I'm all that surprised."

McGonagall flicked her wand and another chair a couple feet away from Potter and his gang, Draco didn't need to be told what he needed to do and sat down beside them. Leaning back in his chair, he looked over at them and back at McGonagall. Looking at her with an expression that just had, "well?" plainly written on it, he waited to hear exactly why they were sitting there.

It was horrible enough being back, but having the golden boy sitting right there with his posse made it even worse (which he hadn't at the time had thought was possible). Honestly, how he had forgotten that Potter would have been there?

"As you know, Mr Malfoy you're behind by just over a month in classes-"

Draco slowly looked over at Granger, and he suddenly knew exactly why she was here (The Weasel and Potter… he wasn't quite sure, maybe just moral support). He couldn't decide if he wanted to groan or laugh, his luck was just getting worse and worse.

"- Miss Granger has kindly agreed to help you catch up."

Of course she had, how could miss "I do no wrong" not agree to help him.

"You are very, very fortunate to have her agree to this, and I expect that you will treat her with the utmost respect that she deserves."

"If you dare put a toe out of line and do something to her, I will make sure you regret it, Malfoy," Weasley threatened, causing him to just grin over in his direction. Of course he would threaten him.

"And what are you going to do to me, Weasel? Strangle me with one of your hideous hand me down sweaters? I'm sitting here trembling, that's a terrifying thought. Don't stress yourself out, I'm not going to do anything to your mudblood friend, why would I?"

He hadn't realized he had used the word mudblood until he said it, bad idea. Groaning inwardly, he shifted awkwardly.

"Don't you dare call her that! You don't deserve her help or a second chance, you haven't changed at all!" Ron snarled at him, his face actually going another shade of red (almost matched his hair, he mused the idea to himself). This was already going nowhere good; he hadn't even been there for a whole ten minutes.

"Won't happen again," he muttered quickly in a feeble attempt to save himself. They probably wanted him to apologize to her, but he wouldn't. Not to anyone, not to her, especially not to any of those three. He could feel McGonagall's disapproving gaze at him.

Then there was silence.

Draco hated silence, he'd honestly rather listen to Weasley bellow about nothing. He could tune that out, but this he couldn't. His mother's voice drilled him in the back of his mind not to screw this up, his last chance. People had told him not to mess up so many times, he always failed them. This would be no different, he would just disappoint her.

He didn't belong here. He had no point being here, why did people somehow not understand that?

Well, Potter and posse did, but everyone else didn't.

Moving around awkwardly once more, he glanced over at McGonagall who finally broke the tense silence. "As I was saying… you're lucky to be back here Mr Malfoy, don't make me regret my decision of letting you back in. you will return back to the Slytherin common room, and have the luxury of having a room to yourself. You and Ms Granger can figure out a plan tomorrow, I expected that you three have work to be done before dinner. In your room is your luggage, Mr Malfoy, your class time table will be in there and tomorrow you will fit in just like you normally would." Her voice faltered for a moment, he wondered if he was the only one that caught that. Nodding his head in her direction, he rose stiffly and didn't even bother glancing in Granger and company's direction. Walking from her office through the familiar hallways, there was a certain coldness that caused a shiver to run down his spine. Not from the temperature, but from everyone and everything there. The moment he made his way down to the dungeons, he could hear the whispers and feel the glances. Draco felt like he was on a walk of shame.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust the dime lights of the dungeons, and he groaned out loud when he realized the old bat hadn't given him the damn password. He was actually going to have to ask someone now? No, he certainly wouldn't bring himself to that level of embarrassment. He'd hear someone say it, but who knows how long he'd have to lurk around for. Rubbing his face, Draco wondered if his day could just get any worse.

Knowing his luck, it probably could and very well would now that he set himself up for it.

_**AN: I know I always say it, but thank you all for the alerts and reviews! It means so much to me, I love getting some sort of feedback. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and it definitely is nowhere near as short as the other, now everything is gonna get moving along!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Watching Malfoy leave, Hermione slouched down in her chair and shook her head. Why had she agreed to this? He was exactly how he had been before, she couldn't see that he had changed all that much. He hadn't even been in the room that long and was already off calling her a mudblood (something she had foolishly thought that he had outgrown by now).

"Ms Granger… if you don't want to do this I do understand-"Apparently McGonagall hadn't been aware of the level of animosity that was shared between the two until that very moment.

"- It's fine, professor. He said he wouldn't do again, I'll take his word for it for now."

She could feel Ron staring at her like she had just grown another head or two.

"Are you feeling okay, Hermione? He just proved the exact point I was trying to get across. He hasn't changed; he's still a foul git that doesn't deserve your help."

"I said I would Ron, and I'll give him a chance."

"Thank you, Ms Granger. He really does need that, and perhaps you'll see another side of him."

The apprehension and doubt in her words was obvious, but they said nothing but a simple farewell as the three made their way back to the common room. Hermione couldn't help but to appreciate her attempt of optimism, she wasn't feeling beginning to feel less optimistic about the whole situation as the time went on.

"Another side of him… yeah right," Ron snorted. "What happened to you calling him a foul, loathsome evil cockroach? That's exactly what he is. I think you and McGonagall are out of your bloody mind for agreeing to help him after all of this."

Reaching over and grabbing his hand, she entwined their fingers together loosely and squeezed his hand in a reassuring manner. He returned the gesture after a moment, and the two walked silently down the hallway beside Harry (whose eyes would occasionally look around the hallway desperately, Hermione wondered if he was looking for Ginny). She knew that this was something Ron would never approve of, but he and Harry had reacted better than she had expected. It reassured her, calming the anxiety that still ran like an out of control wild fire through her veins.

"He talks big, but he wouldn't do anything, Ron," Harry said suddenly, running his fingers through his thick black hair that never seemed to lay flat. "She just has to threaten to curse him and he'd cower back and stop right away, you saw him when she punched him." Sending a lopsided grin over in Ron's direction and shrugging his shoulders. He mumbled the password to the portrait and climbed in before Ron could retort back.

"Harry's right, don't worry. I'll be just fine," she told him. As much as her words seemed to sound more convincing, she didn't believe them one hundred percent. She was going to dread tomorrow even more than she had dreaded this one. Something told her it was a feeling she was going to grow use too quickly.

* * *

><p>There had been many moments in Draco's life where he had wanted to die. The day his father had come in proudly telling him he could have his shot to do his family proud and be a Death Eater was still on the top of that list. But standing in the dungeons right now feeling like a complete dumb ass was definitely on that list now as dramatic as it may sound. Groaning under his breath, he looked around desperately trying to find some pathetic first year that would be scared enough to give him the password. He wasn't sure how many people he'd actually know that would be back. Not that it mattered much, the less that were here probably would be the better.<p>

The sound of cold laughter and voices indicated that people were surely approaching. They weren't voices that he recognized, he strained to listen and try and catch who they were. Taking another step back closer to one of the suits of armour, he tried to stay hidden away from them so they he could just hear the password and hopefully sneak in undetected. He had no idea what time it was, leaning against the wall he pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe if he waited until everyone cleared out for dinner he'd have the best option of being able to find his room (the location of which McGonagall didn't tell him, of course) and try and figure out what the hell was going on.

The old bat probably found the idea of him having to go back being hilarious, she probably was sitting there laughing to herself thinking about the fact he didn't even know the password to his own common room.

Voices and foot falls grew louder and out of natural reaction he pressed back against the cold wall harder, watching a group of fifth years (or were they fourth years) maybe their way in laughing. Taking a step off the wall and moving closer toward the entrance cautiously, he just barely heard one of the boys say, "house pride" before going in.

"House pride?" He scoffed to himself under his breath as he stepped back in to the shadows, "this place has gone to the dogs completely." Honestly, what kind of password was house pride? They couldn't have picked a better password? Obviously not. Sitting down against the wall, he wondered how long he'd have to sit here until people started to clear out for dinner. What time had he gotten here at? Like three? That was going to be a good couple hours. Groaning to himself and leaning his head back against the cold stone, he knew that he was going to have to eventually face people, like tomorrow at breakfast (or he could just skip it, but after skipping two meals he had a feeling he'd be starving). Though he'd much rather have to delay that as much as he could. Shifting against the cold stone, he was growing more and more uncomfortable as the minutes passed.

He didn't even have his wand on him, which could have provided a bit of amusement. He could trip little second years while they walked by, that could have helped him pass the hours. His classes were going to be completely useless; he stopped actually paying attention and trying half way through fifth year. He was going to go in there and want to bash his head against a desk (or shoot things at Potter), another waste of time. How had his mother even thought that this could have been a good idea? There was nothing good about it, not one thing.

And the fact he was going to have to be around Granger pretty much daily at McGonagall's request just made him want to jab his eyes out with his wand. He'd rather do that then have to be anywhere near her.

Another large group of Slytherins walk past him, and he stared at them grudgingly. It seemed to be the same people that had passed him earlier, but they just gained five more kids. Growing bored and uncomfortable sitting in the hallway, he finally rose to his feet and waited until they were out of sight to make his way up to the familiar door.

He shouldn't be nervous, he had been face to face with Voldemort himself being told if he didn't kill Dumbledore he'd kill him and his family. He had been locked in a room with countless death eaters that were proven murderers, walking in to a common room that was possibly filled with kids his own age and younger definitely shouldn't be leaving his heart pounding and causing him to feel physically sick to his stomach. Taking in a deep breath, he tilted his chin up. With his fists clenched tightly, he stared at the door ahead of him and repeated 'please be empty' over and over again in his mind when he finally said the password. "House pride."

The door swung open and he stepped in, being greeted by an unpleasant silent and a ton of eyes staring in his direction. Of course the common room was practically full, why would it be empty? With his luck today someone was going to jump up and hit him with a curse.

Waiting for the impact he took a step in and coldly looked over at them all, letting a familiar sneer set on his face.

"Is that Malfoy?" He heard the murmur started by someone he recognized, but couldn't figure out his name. All he knew is that he was definitely a year younger than him. The silence was irritable, and he took a couple steps forward before turning to the group once more. Rolling his eyes in their direction, he hoped to look plain irritated and unimpressed, even though butterflies swarmed around in his stomach.

Making his way up toward the boy's dorm, he was cut off by a squeal and suddenly a pair of arms wrapping around him. Stopping dead in his tracks, he stiffly looked down at the shorter girl. He relaxed a bit when he realized that it was just Pansy. Patting her on the back lightly, he stepped back out of her vice like grasp on him.

"I can't believe it," she said after a moment, sending a devious grin in his direction. "How many strings did your mom pull to get you back in? My mom said that your mom had mentioned this but we both didn't think it'd be possible."

"Well-" he opened his mouth to answer her, but was cut off by an amused looking Zabini that walked up, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"- Look what the cat dragged in. I can say I'm a bit surprised. "

"Pleasure to you too, Zabini," Draco said shortly, shrugging his hand off of his shoulder. Looking over past his former two best friends, he sneered at the gawking younger students.

"Could you ogle me any more obviously? Honestly," he snapped. Growing a bit more satisfaction when they grew suddenly uncomfortable and glanced away, a couple of girls blushing at his comment. Taking a step back from Pansy and Blaise, he wanted to get away from everyone. Without saying anything else, he made his way up the stairs. Pansy was right at his heels (not that he was surprised).

To his left there was a doorway he hadn't seen before, and he figured that McGonagall had made this room for him. 'How nice,' he thought to himself. The old bat had gone out of her way to make him his own room. He was a bit surprised and expected her to make him suffer even more in the dorm with everyone else. That arrangement made it easy for people to probably kill him in his sleep, though he had a separate room it did not make him feel all that more comfortable. Unlocking it and stepping in, he realized that pretty much just anyone could walk on in.

"This just makes things even better," he mumbled to himself.

"Cozy," Pansy said, closing the door behind them.

Draco jumped at her voice; completely forgetting that she had went in there with him.

"I guess."

"What did she say to get you back in?"

"No idea. She just told me to behave and if I mess this up I'm pretty sure she'll disown me."

"I doubt it, maybe she'd just throw you in the dungeons," Pansy laughed at her own words, sprawling out on the single bed in his room. He shook his head at her, looking at the familiar green and silver decorations. It wasn't much, a bed, an attachment that possibly lead to a bathroom (that would be fantastic) and a desk which had his time table sitting on with his luggage leaning against the stone wall beside it.

"I couldn't get that lucky," he said under his breath, picking up the time table off the desk and studying his classes.

"I still can't believe you're here… well, I can't believe a lot of us are here. Zabini seems choked that you're back, when you walked in he looked like he could kill someone. I kind of missed you, so I don't mind. Your arrival is a bit late though, don't you think?"

"Why does Blaise even care? But, trust me; I can't either believe it either. I don't want to be, but I didn't have any other choice." Groaning at his time table, he set it down and looked over at her. "Do you have Potions at all?"

"I wouldn't really want to come back if I were you either. And yeah, I do. What are the strings attached to letting you back in? There's no way you're in scot free. How in Merlin's name did you get your own room?"

"She acts like she's doing us all this huge favour by letting in me, which my mom seems to think she is. I don't know about the room though, the crazy old bat just decided that I should have my own room. No idea at all how she even got it here. I think she just let me back in for her own amusement, personally."

"You're not that funny, I don't know why it'd be for her amusement."

"Because she seems to think it'd be a good idea for me to play catch up with Granger."

Pansy's face fell in to an even wider grin, and she laid back on his bed and let a heart bout of laughter break the silence. "Oh, that is funny."

"I seem to be the only one that doesn't think so."

Standing up, she just grinned at him. "As much as I'd love to hear more about this, I need to get ready for History of Magic. I'll be back later to hear all about your quality time with Granger though." Patting him on the arm, she turned around and looked over at him before she slid through the door. "Hey, Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"It's good to have you back. I kind of missed you."

Without giving him a chance to answer, she exited.

Walking over to where Pansy had once laid, he flopped down on his bed and covered his face with his hands. Skipping dinner seemed like the best option, or maybe he could just bribe Pansy to bring him something up (considering she was the only one that seemed the slightest bit happy to see him there). Forcing himself not to think about Granger and the dread the next couple months were bringing, he somehow managed to drift off in to an uneasy sleep.

It wasn't until early the next morning he was woken by the rumbling of his stomach and evident pain from the fact he hadn't had any dinner. Groaning to himself, he sat up and realized that he had fallen asleep in an awful position. His neck hurt, his back hurt and hunger pains ran through him. Trying to comb his hair back out of his face with his fingers, he figured it was close to four am. His assumption about Pansy bringing him food had been off by a lot, there was no sign of anything edible in his room. Skipping breakfast wasn't feeling like an option, and as much as he wanted just to not show up to any classes he had a sneaking suspicion that McGonagall wouldn't like that and he'd probably end up with a strong worded letter from his mother.

Maybe they'd send him home, but he doubted he couldn't get that lucky.

Unable to fall back asleep, he paced around his room trying to ignore the painful grumbling of his stomach and the uneasy anxiety that the idea of returning to class brought. Eventually he grew bored of being in the tiny room with bland walls; tugging on some clothing impatiently he went down to the common room and just gazed in to the amber flames, trying to lose himself in thought. Perhaps he had dozed off again, he wasn't sure, but the sound of voices snapped him out of his train of thought. A bunch of second years made their way downstairs, chattering excitedly. He took that as his cue to exit the room, stepping across the emerald carpet he slid out and made his way toward the great hall before anyone else had went down in to the common room.

There was hardly a single person that was in the great hall, a few stray students had made their way. Even the teachers didn't want to be up yet at this hour judging by the lack of them sitting at the front of the table. He didn't blame them. Considering normally he wouldn't want to be up this early either, not that he actually knew the exact time. He wasn't dying to find out though- it was probably an hour he'd cringe at. He couldn't ignore the pain in his stomach any longer as he helped himself to some of the suddenly appealing warm food.

It didn't take long for students to start filing in. everyone seemed to act like he had the plague, leaving a big gap of space around him (even the first years who had no idea who he was wouldn't sit close to him). Not that it bothered him at all, the less people he had to talk to the better. After scarfing down enough food to make him feel sick, he shoved his plate forward and left without a single glance over his shoulder (especially in Pansy's direction, he heard her call his name but chose to ignore it). The realization that classes were approaching made him feel even more ill, maybe eating as much as he did hadn't been a great idea. Groaning at the thought, he hurried in to his room and stared down at his times table. Ancient Runes with the Gryffindors. He had never even taken Ancient Runes before. Shaking his head at the fact, he searched through the pile of textbooks that had been beside the paper (evidently his mother had known ahead of time and bought them, the cover hadn't even been cracked on most of them).

Had the old bat just gone out of her way to make sure he was in all the same classes as Granger? It made enough sense, but considering he hadn't actually done Ancient Runes before it was stupid of her. Unless she just wanted him to crash and burn in an NEWT level class with things he hadn't seen before, but then again how hard could it be?

He regretted wondering that when he took the seat in the farthest back corner. Cracking his textbook open, he realized this was going to be a lot harder than what he had intended. Flipping through the pages, he silently cursed his mother and everyone else who put him in this situation. They couldn't have just assumed he was stupid from his lack of recent education and put him in easy courses that he could bull shit through? No, they decided to put him in the hardest courses they could even when he didn't have the slightest idea of how to do them or what was going on.

When the class filled in, it had the same pattern that breakfast had. Everyone cleared around him, letting him sit on his own. Scribbling down the date and his name on a piece of parchment, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that Granger was scrambling in being dangerously close to being late. Blue eyes watched her as she frantically scurried in grasping her bag, taking her seat right in front of him.

Great, now he couldn't see over her ridiculous bush of hair. Shifting his chair over so he could actually see, he tried to make sense of what the professor was saying and writing down, but nothing connected. He spent the whole lesson just blankly staring from the notes that the professor was giving them and the textbook, hoping that somehow things were magically going to make sense.

By the end of the hour (or however long the class was, Draco hadn't been paying enough attention) he had accomplished nothing and was still just as confused as he had been earlier. He made a mental note to go complain to McGonagall to get him to drop the class, as much as he didn't want to talk to her there was no way he was taking this class.

A shadow lingered over his desk as he was beginning to put things away, looking up he wasn't all that surprised to see Granger staring down at him.

"Can I help you, Granger?" He asked, raising a brow at her.

She hesitantly pushed some of that unruly brown hair behind her ear, "I just wanted to have a civilized conversation with you about where we're going to meet and how we're going to go about this whole situation, Malfoy."

"Please, Granger. Stop being so dramatic. Just set down your rules or whatever the hell you want."

"I think that for now since you're so behind we should meet every evening in the library-"

'Obviously,' he thought to himself, 'where else would we meet?'

"- until you get more caught up we can meet less and less. But I think that will do for now."

Straightening her shoulders, she looked over at him and set her jaw as if she was trying to mentally talk herself up. "I expect you to behave at all times," she snapped. "There will be no name calling or anything else along those lines."

Draco couldn't help but to smile a bit and try not to laugh. "Alright, Granger."

"Alright? That's it?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

She fell silent for a moment, frowning. He noted that she wasn't one to really hide what she was feeling, but then again none of them were. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and were just stupid about everything. "I just… expected some snarky remark I guess."

"I'm sure I could come up with one."

Shaking her head quickly, she looked up at him slightly wide eyed. "Tomorrow at seven?"

Nodding, he leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. She looked like she was ready for him to strike out and pounce at any given moment, which he honestly he had no desire to do. In the back of his mind he couldn't decide what he wouldn't rather do, spend time with Granger or stay boxed up in his room alone trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. Both of them were low on his list of things he wanted to do (going home was on the very top). The more he thought about it, the more he realized spending time with someone he couldn't stand hit higher than awkwardly hiding away in his room. At least with Granger he knew what buttons to push to get reactions out of her, where in his room he'd be staring at bland walls and textbooks with little meaning to him. Inevitability flustering Granger took the cake.

Then for reasons beyond him, she frowned again even deeper and stepped closer. "Or tonight… let's do tonight at seven."

"Sounds good to me."

For a moment she actually looked up, soft brown eyes meeting cold blue ones. They stood there for just a second before crimson rose to her cheeks and she looked down. Mumbling a quick farewell and see you soon, she walked off hugging her book bag close to her chest.

Watching her go, Draco just shook his head.

He definitely would rather be at home right now.

**_AN: I honestly don't understand how this chapter got so long... it kind of drags on and I do apologize for that. Once again thank you everyone who took the time to review and alert! I do appreciate it greatly. I promise now things are going to pick up in pace! Also... sorry it took me so long to update. I'm on "vacation" with my family right now... aka me wanting to axe someone and go home xD_**


	6. Chapter 6

An uneasy chill ran down her spine as she walked away. The conversation she had with Draco had been unsettling, she would have preferred to have had a screaming match with him or some kind of verbal dispute. She was use to that, she expected it from him. He not saying much and agreeing to what she said was something she had never had happen before, even though she said that she wanted him not to fight with her, it scared her more when they didn't fight. With a glance over her shoulder, she made her way up to the common room. "Calm down," she mumbled to herself, taking in a deep breath. "You're being ridiculous."

The moment she stepped in to the common room, she practically ran in to someone. Stumbling back, she opened her mouth to give them a quick apology since she hadn't been paying attention to where she had been going.

"Oh! Hermione, just the person I was looking for," a third year said to her, grinning. She couldn't figure out who it was, she hadn't actually recalled ever having a conversation with this girl before. Until now she had never seen her, she was sure of it. "Professor McGonagall would like to see you quickly before your next class if possible. She's in her classroom."

Telling the girl whose name she didn't know that she would head off in that direction, she sighed to herself as she turned back around and pretty much headed back the way she came. A part of her just wanted to sit down and kick her feet up and read something not school related, like the Daily Prophet just for five minutes even. With school and the frequent meetings with McGonagall she hadn't had a true moment just to herself (with Harry and Ron having a class this morning that ran later while she didn't, she had been very hopeful for that). A part of her felt bad for complaining about it because she knew that she could have said no, and by agreeing to another thing she just topped up the lack of free space on her already full plate. It was completely her fault, she had been very aware of her lack of free time.

She made a mental note to learn how to say no and not feel bad about it before she got even more over her head.

Making her way in to McGonagall's classroom, she smiled at her professor in greeting.

"Ah, miss Granger. Thank you for coming so quickly. I am hope I am not interrupting anything."

"No, not at all, professor. I was just heading back to the common room since I don't have classes for another hour."

"I was just going to ask you a couple questions quickly. I won't keep you too long. Have you had a chance to sort things out with Mr Malfoy yet?"

"I've got it briefly sorted out. We'll see how it goes from here though."

She ignored the nervous flutter in her stomach and she tried her hardest to push it down, she shouldn't be the slightest bit nervous. Out of everything she had done this should have been a piece of cake. Where was that 'Gryffindor confidence' they always heard about at the beginning of the year at the sorting? The fluttering in her stomach told her it was lacking in this situation.

"Excellent. I'm glad to hear Miss Granger, but please, if you have any concerns about it let me know. Even if it's just something little that you wouldn't think is important and would normally be overlooked. I'm trying to trust that all his intentions are good, but it's better to be safe rather than sorry."

Hermione just nodded, before she could even think about speaking McGonagall was asking her another question.

"I meant to ask you this earlier but it slipped my mind. When I made Mr Malfoy's timetable I tried to place him in most of the same classes that you are in to make it easier for you. But I realized that I may have made a mistake, can you recall if he was ever in Ancient Runes?"

Frowning, she shook her head. "He was in class today though. I don't think he ever took Ancient Runes, I only ever had the class with the Slytherin's in my first year taking it."

With a flick of her wand, McGonagall drew another piece of parchment out that suddenly had a new time table on it. "I've made a few changes. I'm assuming you're seeing Mr Malfoy shortly, would you mind giving this to him when you do? If you won't be seeing him soon I can find someone else to give it to him-"

"- I see him tonight. It won't be an issue, professor."

"Thank you, Miss Granger. If there's any more problems with it tell him to come and see me. That's all I needed to ask you."

"Like I said, it isn't an issue, professor."

Taking the time table from her, she stuck it in the front of her textbook so she wouldn't lose it. Standing up, she pushed a few brown curls behind her ear. "Have a nice day, professor. I'll let you know how everything goes."

Turning around on her heel, she made her way back to the common room in hope of getting a couple minutes of peace and quiet.

* * *

><p>Draco sat hunched in his small room over the desk, staring at the array of parchment spread out and overlapped in the tiny space. He had figured that in classes that he had actually before that he'd have a bit of an idea about what was going on. He definitely had been wrong there. He didn't even have the slightest clue about half of the things, even some of the ingredients in potions had made no sense. He hadn't expected to go walking in and know everything without have been there, but he had expected to have a tiny idea in some areas. Unfortunately for him, not that he'd ever admit it out loud… he was beginning to realize he was going to need a bit of help. Or they could just let him go home, but that wasn't an option as much as he wished it was.<p>

Groaning and leaning back in his chair, he couldn't believe that he was actually lost in Potions out of all classes. That had been one class he had been okay in for the most part, but even that had him completely lost and unable to connect anything. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he needed to go down for dinner. That also brought to mind that he had to meet with Granger after dinner for their first day of playing catch up. He could already feel a head ache beginning to form just thinking about it. Pushing that thought back, he stood up and made his way out.

Pansy seemed to have spotted him like a hawk and grabbed on to him as he tried to go through the common room ignoring the glances he always got when people were near.

"Are you heading down for dinner already?"

"No, I just fancied a stroll and have more people to stare at me and whisper that I'm a death eater."

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll come down with you, I'm hungry too. No one wants to go down for another bit until it settles down."

"I'd do that too if I wasn't bloody starving. The whole staring thing is getting old quick. I also have to go meet Granger in the library at seven."

She fell in to step beside him, practically bouncing with every step. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he stared straight ahead. He didn't need to be looking at her to know she was staring at him with an amusement glimmer in her eyes.

"How can you even bear eating? You must be so horribly nervous," she taunted before allowing her tone to fall serious. "The library. Why am I not surprised?"

"Because it's Granger."

"That was a rhetorical question, Draco. We all know she pretty much lives there."

The two walked in to the Great Hall, weaving their way through the crowd of students that seemed to rather stand there chatting then sit down at their tables. They chose a seat close to the end, and Draco wasn't the least bit surprised when everyone sat a bit away from them. Occasionally people would study them curiously.

"People think you're crazy associating with a death eater," he commented as he pushed more mashed potatoes around on his plate.

"Former death eater," she corrected. "But that doesn't change anything. You're still my best friend regardless."

He couldn't help but to smile at her just for a moment before resuming to eat.

"Aw, look. I made the heartless former death eater smile! I will cherish this moment forever."

Snorting, he took another mouthful of mashed potatoes and just shook his head.

"What time is your hot date with Granger at?"

That comment caused him to choke on what he was eating. Gulping down some of his pumpkin juice, he gasped for breath and gave her the most unimpressed look he could muster in this situation. Pansy found the whole thing hilarious, trying to hide the fit of giggles that overcame her. His eyes watered from his momentary lack of oxygen. "That," he began, "was not funny at all."

"Actually, it really was. Don't die on me," she snickered.

Shaking his head and taking another careful sip of his juice. "Supposed to meet her at seven."

Grinning and evidently trying her hardest not to burst out laughing again, Pansy broke off a chunk of bread and popped it in her mouth. "You better get going then, Malfoy. You wouldn't want to be late for your romantic study date."

Rolling his eyes at the date comment, he looked around. "What time is it?"

"Twenty to."

He couldn't help but to groan at the fact. "I still have a bit of time. Don't get too worried for me."

"Don't you need your textbooks and all that? I hope you can run to the dungeons and back pretty quick."

"Why are you so concerned?"

"Because I think this situation is hilarious and want to hear all about it. The sooner you go, the sooner it'll be over and I'll get to hear all about it."

Finishing up the last couple pieces of his roast, he raised a brow at her at as Zabini and his group of friends conveniently walked in. "I'll see you when I get back, I guess."

"Trust me, I'll be waiting."

"I don't doubt it."

Making his way down to the dungeons, he grumbled about it under his breath the whole way there.

* * *

><p>After dinner, Hermione had made sure to get the library a bit earlier. She had quite a bit of homework to do anyways, and figured that she could try and get some done before she had to meet with Draco. She still felt sick to her stomach, and the argument between her and Ron didn't make her feel any better. He was so dead set against her "helping the enemy" that everything she did was turning in to a fight. At first he had been adamant to come with her, thinking that it would just be better if he was there with her. She knew that he would make it worse; the two would bicker the whole time and antagonize each other. Little work would actually be done, where if it was just her perhaps there was a chance he actually work.<p>

It wasn't fully likely, but she knew for certain it would be better without Ron there.

Maybe telling him that she didn't need him to hold her hand through everything had sparked up a bit of offense. She figured that comment was the one that truly made the fight escalate. Luckily Harry had been there to stop everything before it got worse. Lately he was always playing the voice of reason between the two of them. Running her fingers through her hair in a frustrated manner at the thought, she tried to pay closer attention to her Ancient Runes homework. She had to translate a whole page for tomorrow, and she hadn't even gotten a quarter of it done yet. Not only did she have to finish that, she had an essay to start, and one to finish.

She didn't know where she would find the time.

The sound of footfalls approaching caused her to look up, and she was shocked to see Malfoy walking in early. She had never really seen him as one to be punctual, or early for that matter. Looking back down at her textbook so she didn't seem to look like she was staring, she wondered if he saw her sitting here. Not that she really found herself hard to miss; she was sitting out in the open leaning over her book. She used her other senses to judge his approach. The chair dragging across the floor caused her to finally look up, and he plopped down on the chair facing her and set a couple of his books down.

"Like what you see, Granger?"

She wasn't surprised at his greeting. Rolling her eyes at him, she just shook her head. "Not particularly." Could he be any more arrogant?

He expected that reaction from her, and just silently opened his Potion's textbook without another word and began to study the pages that he had missed. He had a lot of reading to do to try and make up, but no matter what he did he had a fleeting feeling that he'd always be behind.

Frowning at Malfoy, Hermione watched as he just silently went to work without insulting her or saying anything else.

It had been a solid twenty minutes of Hermione just studying her runes, looking up at Malfoy quite often. He was clearly focused on his textbook, biting on the side of his cheek as he flipped through the pages of his potions textbook. She was still completely shocked at the fact he was actually working, and making a legitimate effort. Tearing her eyes away from him studying, she looked down and continued to translate her runes.

Several minutes later, he broke the surprisingly comfortable silence that had blanketed them.

"This is bloody pointless. She's bloody off her rocker to think I am able to catch up," he said finally, shoving his textbook off to the side.

She didn't say anything for a moment, just gawking at him for a moment.

"Why are you gawking at me, Granger? I know I'm attractive, but you couldn't be any more obvious."

Ignoring his comment, she looked up and met his gaze for a moment. "McGonagall isn't off her rocker, she's doing you a huge favour. She thinks you can catch up, if you really want to and try you can."

"No, she really is. This is impossible. She put me in classes I've never even been in before," he said, pulling out the Ancient Runes textbook and holding it up.

She had completely forgotten about his time table until he said something about it. "Oh!" She said, flipping to the front of her book and handing him the time table. "She just made a mistake there. Here, look at this time table. If there are any issues she wants you to go talk to her."

Draco raised his brow at Granger, so she had realized that he wasn't capable of doing NEWT level Ancient Runes without any previous information. A part of him felt a bit of relief, but it didn't do much good. He had intentions on just not showing up to Ancient Runes, but this made it a bit easier than getting scolded for not showing up. Reaching over and grabbing the parchment from Granger, his hand brushed against hers and he tried not to laugh at how quickly she jerked her hand back from his touch.

So this is how she was going to be, he thought to himself. A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips when he noticed the faint trace of pink that lit up her cheeks as she furiously began to scribble notes about her homework like nothing had happened. That made things a bit more interesting for him. Not a bit, actually quite a bit. His mind reeled with possibilities of how and get a rise out of her without it being obvious.

Too many possibilities, this was excellent.

Not bothering to tell her the time table was fine, he looked down at his potions book and read a couple of sentences before looking up at her. She was making this all too easy for his own amusement without even realizing it.

Suddenly the homework sessions with Granger were going to be a bit more interesting for him.


	7. Chapter 7

The last two weeks had passed in a hectic whirlwind for Draco. The Great Hall was decorated in different shades of orange and black, indicating that Halloween would soon be approaching. He had almost lost track of the days with his schedule that had him constantly working. He found that the days seemed to have blurred together in the same routine: hauling himself out of bed, almost missing breakfast, rushing from class to class before grabbing dinner subtly harassing Granger in their homework sessions. Pansy seemed to squirm her way in to his small bouts of free time, and it was a weird feeling to have her back. He had gone so long isolating himself from everyone, it surprised him that after how he had distanced himself away from her the previous year that she was so easy to let it go. Something had changed in her, it was just something that he just couldn't put his finger on. The Pansy he had known a year ago wouldn't have just let it roll off her shoulders like nothing had happened… maybe she was just happy to have him back and was hiding any resentment. Every time he thought of that he couldn't help but to laugh, it just didn't seem right.

He couldn't really complain though, he didn't mind having someone to talk too that wasn't Granger.

Though most had grown use to him being back, he felt that they went out of their way to ignore him. Especially Zabini, he refused to look his way for reasons beyond Draco. Not that it was something he was truly bothered by. He didn't have time for anything other than school with the pressure of catching up and trying to figure out what was going on being pressed down on his shoulders. If him working his arse off was what it took to show them that he wasn't plotting some crazy plan to take down to the school, then he'd do it (though going home still seeming way more appealing to him).

The castle had once felt so cold, but as the weeks went on there was a certain warmth that had set back in that he couldn't explain. The dark corridors lit by the soft light of torches didn't seem so dreary; he didn't feel like he was constantly being caged away from everyone. Some of the animosity that had been there earlier began to slowly chip away piece by piece. It was a feeling that he truly couldn't describe, not that he'd ever try to. He sure as hell didn't feel welcome back at Hogwarts, there were still angry glances in his direction with the occasional murmur that would ripple through the silent crowd of people reminding him of what had happened no matter how hard he tried to let it slip away.

There were moments where he didn't feel as cold and broken as he had before, as if the barrier of solitude and ice was beginning to melt from the new warmth of the castle. It was something he didn't really understand, and the feeling left him questioning his overall sanity (not that he felt like he had much left). A foreign feeling of fleeting happiness would run through him for just a moment, sparking something inside of him that had been buried away for so long. Occasionally he was able to look in the mirrors in the lavatories as he passed, the reflection that stared back at him wasn't the one of a monster like he had always seen, but as the person he had been before his father walked through that front door that day telling him that his fate had been set in stone to be a death eater and serve Voldemort for the rest of his life.

Those moments were sparse and didn't occur all that often, but he held on to them as tight as he could in fear that the feeling would never come back, and he just didn't know what to do with it.

That peculiar lightness in his chest was there when he sat down that evening to do his homework with Granger. He wasn't surprised at all when he saw her bent over with her nose practically pressed against the desk, a huge mound of books surrounding her like a shield. Shaking his head as he strode casually over to their usual table, he set down his two textbooks with a loud thump and couldn't help but to smirk in a feeble attempt to hide his laughter when her head shot up and she stared at him wide eyed.

"Merlin, Malfoy! You didn't have to sneak up on me."

"I wasn't sneaking, Granger. You're delusional. I just walked up and set my books down."

Sitting down and stretching his legs out, he leaned back in the chair with his hands behind his head, watching in an almost bored manner. As much as he hated to admit it, Granger had been a bit helpful with some things and there were actually moments where he tolerated her and didn't want to tell her to shut her big mouth.

Hermione just shook her head at him before going back to working on her Muggle Studies essay.

"Granger," he drawled, leaning over to read what she had written. "Why the bloody hell are you in Muggle Studies? You out of all people don't need to learn about muggles."

She couldn't help but to be amused at how baffled he was by the concept. He completely gawked at her essay about muggles being able to live without magic like it was written in a completely different language. "Why does everyone ask me that?" She mumbled to herself, before glancing back up and meeting his eyes quickly (just for a moment before looking back down). "Because I think it's interesting to see it from another view, alright?"

He just raised an eyebrow at her, opening his mouth it looked like he was going to make some snarky remark but simply pulled out his textbook and began reading the page. It caught her more off guard than it should have; she had been sitting there almost expecting a fight. At least an insult or two, but he gave her nothing but silence. For the last fifteen days he had not once called her a mudblood, they hadn't even really got in to a fight. There were disagreements, little ones that sparked determination in his eyes. She had learned a lot about him quite quickly, like how he bit his lip when he was concentrating, or the way he'd tap his fingers on the desk when he was bored. Little things like that she had figured out quite quickly, but it was completely right over her head that they were almost getting along. Sure he had been practically threatened to behave (she hadn't expected him to actually listen), but it still was something she couldn't wrap her mind around.

He broke the long bout of silence with a single comment: "You're insane, Granger." His tone wasn't cold or snarky, it was almost bored. He didn't look up at her, just flipping the page of his textbook.

Draco honestly didn't understand the girl, she was in over her head with work yet she chose to take pointless things like Muggle Studies when she could use it as a free period to help herself get more free time? Her whole overachiever thing made no sense to him, there was absolutely no appeal in that.

"Granger, how do you even have time for any of this? Shouldn't you be out patrolling the hallways as head girl or something like that?" He asked. It hadn't occurred to him until now that he hadn't noticed a head girl badge or anything of that sort. Not that he had ever been looking for one, tearing his gaze from the page he was reading, he swept his eyes over her and noticed no indication of her being head girl. Well that was something, little miss perfect wasn't a head girl? That was a bit unexpected to him. He would have assumed she would have been on the top of that list. He noticed a bit of color had crept on her cheeks under his gaze.

'Really, Granger?' He thought to himself. Over the last week or so, he had come to the conclusion that Granger was a bit of a prude (not that he hadn't already thought that). It had just become more obvious, and he went out of his way to get reactions from her. It was truly amusing to see how easy he could get her to blush, or render her speechless (which he liked to point out every time he did).

"No. I'm not head girl," she said stiffly.

Raising his brow, he leaned against the table and a bit closer. "That's unexpected."

"You think so? I don't." Straightening her shoulders and looking up at him with sudden seriousness, she continued on, "I didn't go to school last year. It was for a good cause in the end though. But it isn't really encouraged you know? Skipping school to hunt horcruxes and try and save the world isn't something they want students to try and do. Wouldn't want to influence them to do something like that-"

"- Granger. No one in their right mind would try and do that. I can't even see that coming in to play. It's not like people are going to go 'Oh Granger didn't go to school for a year and came back and be head girl, let's do that too'. I can't see that at all."

"It is possible, Malfoy. They had to look at it at every different angle. But Hannah is a good head girl, she really enjoys it too."

"I don't even know who that is if that tells you anything. Evidently she isn't that great of a head girl. If you're not one, then I guess Weasel and Potter didn't stand a chance either? Well, I can see Potter being head boy considering everyone loves him and he's done no wrong." Draco just smiled bitterly and shook his head. Continuing on, he leaned his elbows on the table and shifted in an almost restless manner. "You'd be a damn good head girl, Granger. If that's the reason that they didn't pick you, it's complete bullocks. You'd be a damn good head girl."

The moment it left his mouth, he regretted saying it. He didn't even know where it had came from. Swallowing hard, he clenched his teeth together tightly. Looking back down at his textbook, he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze after that. Had he really just told Granger that he thought she'd be a good head girl? Well, she would be, she was so obsessed with the rules and going to class. The way he said it had almost sounded like a compliment, and complimenting Granger was not something he ever planned on doing. He could feel Granger's eyes on him, and he just continued to stare down at his textbook like he was reading it.

He had just complimented Granger.

That was something he had probably vowed he would never let happen, and it had. He groaned inwardly and looked up at her finally. She was just staring at him in complete disbelief, probably just as stunned as he was about the whole thing.

"Because no one is as much of a stick in the mud as you are, Granger," he drawled, trying to redeem himself a bit.

She just snorted at him, evidently realizing what he was doing and looked back down at what she was doing. A faint blush had crept on to her cheeks at what he had said. She didn't know what to think of it. He had just said something nice to her, obviously it had been unintentional. Heat had rushed to her cheeks at the fact he thought that she would be a good head girl (not that she cared what _he_ out of all people thought). It was still nice to hear things like that, regardless of who it came from and what their intentions were. Half of her wanted to say thank you, and the other half wanted to ask why what had even brought that on. Biting her tongue to resist every urge to ask him, she continued to work with him in silence.

It was just a momentary lapse of judgement, and he blamed it on the feeling that just for a moment that lingering happiness was there. It made him delusional not feeling like the world was trying to crush him down, he tried to blame it on that.

A whole hour had passed in an awkward silence before he stood up and just started to gather his things. He couldn't take any more than an hour; his focus was completely gone now. She looked up at him, allowing their eyes to meet for just a moment before he left without a single word. Leaving both of them pondering the same question that they had been for the last hour, had he actually complimented someone that he was supposed to hate more than anything on this world.

It scared him; it scared him even more that he realized he truly didn't hate her like he was supposed too.

He had a lot of work to do, and a lot of thinking to do. Thinking he couldn't do with her sitting there and him trying to do homework. Groaning to himself as he slipped in to his room, he felt the familiar sensation of annoyance with himself begin to set in to his veins. The tell-tale signs of a sleepless night were sinking in hard and fast.

_**AN: I know I say it every time, but thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this – especially you guys leaving me feedback/alerting this story. I can't voice how much it means to me!**_


	8. Chapter 8

The days were growing to be repetitive without much change, a sleety mixture of snow and rain was constantly heard pelting against the windows along the castles. It was early for them to even be considering snow, but it seemed to be mixing in with the rain giving them the indication that it was going to be a long, cold winter. Most of the students didn't seem to mind the nasty weather for once; excitement ran high between them at the quickly approaching Hogsmead trip and Halloween. The Great Hall was beginning to be decorated in orange and black with promises of a great feast tomorrow night. Excited chatter between tables filled the hall, discussing the many possible festivities and where they wanted to go when they finally got to go to Hogsmead (the first trip of the year after much delay).

Hermione wasn't paying much attention to the conversation flying back and forth; she sat there pushing her mashed potatoes around on her plate. Ron, Neville, Harry and Ginny were all enthusiastically planning what they wanted to do when they finally got down there (mainly going to the sweet shop, which wasn't much of a surprise to her). They had been sitting there for well over an hour now, and she had grown bored of the conversation quite a bit earlier. In her mind she went over all the thing she needed to do, eating and breathing seemed like they were going to become optional and not on the top of her list. Her appetite seemed to be less and less with lately as she struggled to keep up with everything that she needed to do.

Ron's touching her arm and saying her name snapped her from her train of thought, ruining the to-do list she was trying to get in order. Looking up at him with a furrowed brow, he wore a similar expression.

"You didn't answer our question 'Mione," he said. 

"Sorry… not paying attention."

"Obviously," said Harry as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice.

Rolling her eyes in his direction, she looked over at Ron once more, "what was it that you were asking?"

"We were asking how things are going with Malfoy, and if he's still a downright foul git."

"It's going fine," she said, shrugging her shoulders and pushing her plate away. She didn't know what to tell them, they obviously wanted to hear that he was being miserable to deal with. And he wasn't, she couldn't give them that. "He's not that bad, actually." A part of her was shocked that she actually admitted it out loud. And judging by the looks she got from everyone (except Harry), they were also thinking the same thing.

"I still think you're off your bloody rocker," Ron mumbled, "not bad? It's Malfoy for crying out loud."

"He's serious about getting caught up, he truly isn't being bad at all," she explained. "Speaking of which, I'm supposed to meet him soon… I need to get my book from the common room. I'll see you guys later." Gathering her bag, she stood up and shot them a smile before turning around and making her way out.

"Hey, wait!"

She turned around and had Ron rushing off after her, sliding an arm around her waist and smiling down at her. "I feel like I've hardly seen you at all lately. I'll go up to the common room with you."

The two made their way along, talking quietly as they walked through the surprisingly quiet hallway. Ron was right, with everyone going on she felt like the two had hardly seen each other. They had gotten use to spending so much time together, sometimes even just sitting there in silence or bickering about things that had no importance. The sudden change felt different, she wasn't sure how much she liked that.

The common room was empty upon their arrival. Evidently most of the students were down in the Great Hall or off doing something else. Excusing herself from Ron's side, she pulled herself away and made her way up the stairs to gather her things. He seemed to be sitting a bit better with the whole Malfoy situation better than she thought he would have, or he was just doing a surprisingly good job of hiding his animosity.

He was sitting on one of the couches waiting for her. "Are you going to stay here or head back down?" She asked, standing in front of him. He just smiled at her for a moment before grabbing her by the hips, gently pulling her on to his lap.

"I thought we could stay here for a bit," he said before closing the gap between them. His lips pressed against hers with a surprising amount of force and he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her so her body was against his.

She kissed him back softly, letting her hands rest on his shoulders. They continued for a couple of minutes before she felt his grip tighten and he went to pin her down underneath him, pulling away, "not right now in the middle of the common room. I have to go, Ron," she said breathlessly as she managed to untangle herself from his grip. He frowned at her, evidently not very impressed at the fact she refused to continue on.

"Come on, Hermione- I can't even snog you now? You're just going to go run off too Malfoy… he can wait. We never get any alone time!"

"I made a promise to McGonagall, Ron- I have to be there and I can't be late. I'm sorry; I'll make it up to you!" Adjusting her bag over his shoulder, she shot an apologetic smile over her shoulder at him. His gaze was pure fury when their eyes met, and it surprised her a bit. She wasn't used to seeing him like that. Maybe she was right, he was just getting better at hiding his anger toward the situation because he certainly as not happy with it. Still breathless from their kiss, she made her way breathlessly to the library.

Draco was already sitting there with his textbooks open in front of him when she came in. he looked up at her when she sat down, raising an eyebrow at her knowing before saying, "Granger. Why so breathless and flushed? Were you off having a quickie?"

She turned even more pink at his accusation without even realizing it, "of course not!" She huffed, opening her textbook.

He grinned wider when he noticed even more color filling in her cheeks. "You're lying. You were definitely with someone, Granger! I always thought you were too much of a prude to even know how to snog someone." Laughing, he continued on, "was it Potter?"

"I am not a prude, Malfoy! And I most certainly was not off shagging anyone, especially Harry! I have a boyfriend, and he certainly isn't Harry."

He was almost overjoyed at this information; her buttons were so easy to push. "Oh merlin, it's the Weasel isn't it?"

She fell silent, pretending to ignore him and focus on her homework.

"That is just golden," he said, letting out a hearty bout of laughter and leaning back in his chair. "Even you could do better than that, Granger. I thought Potter would have been more your type. He's definitely smarter, Weasel certainly isn't the brightest. And Potter has a lot of money-"

"- Enough! I am not discussing this with you any longer; I am here to help you get caught up. I don't even have to do that!"

"Jesus, Granger. No need to be so touchy."

Their eyes met for a moment, and she glared at him before looking down at her paper, scribbling away angrily. He had evidently struck a nerve, and he made a mental note of the fact that there was a sensitive spot there. He might need that sometime in the near future, every little bit of knowledge could be useful. He found himself just watching her without realizing it, noticing the way her ungodly frizzy hair fell in front of her face while she scribbled away at her notes. The way her lips were set in a tight, furious line because of what he said.

For a moment he questioned his sanity, wondering if he was almost thinking there was something attractive about her.

He probably was losing his sanity, and he couldn't help but to laugh out loud at the fact. She snapped her head up at him, assuming right way he was laughing at her.

"What?" She snapped.

"Nothing, Granger. Calm down. You're more uptight than usual today."

She didn't answer him, just rolled her eyes in his direction. Without much warning she reached out and snatched the essay he had been writing and began to read it.

"What exactly are you doing, Granger?"

"Looking over what you have written. This should be review, Malfoy. The polyjuice potion generally takes about a month to brew, depending on when you start," she explained, handing him back his essay. "Certainly not a week, you might want to fix that."

Groaning to himself, he read over what he wrote and began to scribble it out and add corrections. From the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but to notice the little smug smile that tugged at her mouth before she turned back down to her homework.

She was an odd one, Granger. He thought to himself as they fell back in to a surprisingly comfortable silence.

After almost an hour she snapped him from his focus, "Hey, Malfoy?"

"Granger."

"Are you going to Hogsmead?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm not allowed to go, McGonagall won't let me off of the school grounds, Granger," he explained to her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She furrowed her brow, "oh."

"Yeah."

"Do you know why she won't let you?"

"Probably because she doesn't trust me, Granger. Everyone feels like they're walking on thin ice around me, assuming that I'm randomly going to decide to take over the school or something stupid like that. She probably thinks I'm going to try and recruit former death eaters to attack the school or something ridiculous like that."

"You wouldn't though, right?"

He raised his brow at her, "what do you think, Granger?"

She fell quiet, looking at him nervously and chewing on her lip. "I don't know… I don't think so."

"I don't think I would either, if that answers your question."

Nodding her head, she just looked down at the table.

"If I ever plan on doing that you'll be one of the first to know," he said jokingly. 

She half smiled up at him, suddenly feeling unsettled at the thought of death eaters filling the castle once more. When she looked at him, she didn't see the boy that had once been a death eater. She just saw him in a completely different light that she couldn't explain. He was still Malfoy who had taunted her all these years, the same Malfoy that had aimed a killing curse at her just a year ago. She sat across the table from him now and didn't worry that he was going to even try and harm her, which was crazy when she thought about it. Looking him over once more, he looked exactly how he had that night without the distinct fear in his eyes. Though when she looked at him, she realized the idea of former death eaters taking over the castle terrified him probably just as much as herself.

Perhaps he had changed more than she thought. Slowly the two of them got up and gathered their things, both agreeing without even having to speak that their study session was over.

She looked up at him before she made her way to the Gryffindor tower, "good night, Malfoy." She met his gaze for just a moment before hurrying off.

"Good night, Granger," he said even though she didn't hear him as she scurried off.

_**AN: sooo I'm so sorry this took so long to update e_e I don't even have any excuses xD I'll be better about updating I promise!**_


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